Baha Mar Resorts Inks Deal to Build Multibillion-Dollar Project

Baha Mar Resorts Ltd. announced today that it has signed formal Facility and Investor agreements with Export-Import Bank of China and China State Construction and Engineering Corporation for the development of the multibillion-dollar Baha Mar Resort on Nassau’s Cable Beach.

The agreements include financing arrangements of $2.5 billion by Export-Import Bank of China with construction accords designating China State Construction and Engineering Corporation as the project’s general contractor, and an investor agreement between Baha Mar and China State Construction— which will assume a minority equity interest.

These agreements bring to closure a series of discussions and negotiations between Baha Mar and both Chinese partners from the banking institution and state-owned construction corporation that began in April 2008.

The 1,000-acre Baha Mar project is set to break ground later this year, with the construction start date subject to approvals by the governments of The Bahamas and the People’s Republic of China.

Plans for Baha Mar’s first phase include roughly 3,000 rooms; a 100,000-square-foot casino; two signature spas and a third world-class destination spa; an 18-hole championship Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course; 200,000 square feet of meeting space; 3,000 feet of continuous beachfront; a 20-acre beach and pool experience; and a 35,000-square-foot retail village with upscale shopping, chef-branded restaurants and entertainment venues.

Scheduled for completion in late 2013, it is expected that Baha Mar will create more than 8,000 new jobs for Bahamian workers across all sectors of the hospitality industry. In addition, Baha Mar Resorts has reaffirmed its commitment to hire as many qualified Bahamians as possible to work on the project during its construction phase.

Baha Mar is projected to generate 2.3 million annual visitor room nights; inject $1.1 billion in spending and direct taxes into the Bahamian economy in the first year of operation; and generate an additional $740 million, or a 10-percent increase, to the current gross domestic product of The Bahamas.

Visit www.bahamar.com.